Chapter 3: Wrong Choice
Gasping heavily, Jiang Yi watched as the dead zombie hung on the door, blocking the hole, and finally let out a sigh of relief.
Zombies weren’t particularly intelligent. The ones outside had no idea how to pull the corpse out to clear the gap. They just mindlessly slammed against other parts of the door…
Just as Jiang Yi was startled and about to relax, a white light suddenly rose from the slain zombie’s body. The light condensed into a glowing orb and shot toward the exhausted Jiang Yi like an arrow!
Startled, Jiang Yi wanted to dodge but lacked the strength. He could only watch helplessly as the orb vanished into his chest. “Huh? I don’t feel anything?” He patted his chest in trepidation and sat up.
Clearly, this was his first time encountering such a phenomenon. Since the apocalypse began, Jiang Yi had killed zombies before but had never experienced anything like this. The sudden change must be related to the ability he had just acquired!
He summoned the light screen on the wall again. This time, the data displayed had changed significantly:
“Level: 1 (2/10)
Constitution: 1 point
Spirit: 1 point
Strength: 1 point
Speed: 1 point
Defense: 1 point
Note: Each time a warrior levels up, their body returns to the optimal state for that level and gains 5 free attribute points!”
Jiang Yi frowned. He distinctly remembered that when he materialized the weapon earlier, all five of his attributes had been drained, leaving only a pitiful 1 point each! What did 1 point mean? It essentially reduced Jiang Yi from a healthy adult to the state of a newborn baby. If he hadn’t managed to kill a zombie, level up to 1, and restore his stamina and spirit to their peak, he would have likely exhausted all his strength just taking down one zombie.
Moreover, according to the note, it seemed he still had five free attribute points to allocate. Fully aware of his current predicament, Jiang Yi eagerly tapped the screen to try adding points. However, his attributes didn’t change. Instead, the screen shifted, presenting a long list of options: “Please choose your future attribute allocation direction… Note: This choice is permanent and cannot be changed. Please choose carefully, Warrior.”
The extensive list made Jiang Yi’s head spin, but he gritted his teeth and carefully examined each item. “The attribute allocation options for the ‘Infinite Combat Leveling’ system are as follows:
Balanced Enhancement Warrior: Stability means mediocrity. An overly balanced development dooms you to fade among the multitude of strong individuals.
Constitution Enhancement Warrior: Unkillable means undying. Constitution warriors have the strongest physical recovery speed! But supreme recovery comes at the cost of losing the formidable combat power a warrior should possess.
Spirit Enhancement Warrior: Powerful spirit grants you abundant energy and great precision. However, weak physicality and close-quarters combat are your fatal weaknesses.
Strength Enhancement Warrior: No matter how great your strength, you’re just a brute. Without faster speed and better constitution, you’ll be toyed with by your enemies.
Speed Enhancement Warrior: Peerless speed can indeed help you survive longer than others. But make sure never to get hit by an enemy, or you will surely die.
Defense Enhancement Warrior: Great, with defenses like a mountain, you can outlive anyone. But being slow as a turtle also means you can only take hits!
Custom Enhancement Warrior: customize the best plan based on your own advantages is the true path. Reject mediocrity, refuse the ordinary, allocate points to showcase your own style.”
Jiang Yi understood. As he had guessed, his ability had actually formed a system for him!
“The Infinite Combat System? Indeed, my ability isn’t that simple.” Jiang Yi felt a hint of secret joy. After all, in this terrifyingly chaotic apocalypse, the strength of one’s ability determined whether they would step into the ranks of the powerful or vanish among the masses.
There was no time for Jiang Yi to reflect. After quickly analyzing these growth paths, he had a general understanding. Clearly, these were the directions and focuses for his future development.
Having played countless games, Jiang Yi soon made his choice. Balanced Enhancement was definitely out—such allocation would never give him any standout strengths.
The remaining enhancements were all too extreme and didn’t align with what he wanted. Finally, Jiang Yi fixed his gaze on the last option: Custom Enhancement.
He didn’t need to guess much to know that this would allow him to choose which attributes to enhance. He firmly selected it, but what appeared on the screen left him stunned. He had thought that after choosing this option, he would be free to assign the points as he wished. Clearly, he still didn’t fully understand his ability.
On the screen, the five attributes appeared again, but this time, each was followed by a value of 20%! Hearing the increasingly battered wooden door creak, Jiang Yi didn’t dare to scrutinize further. Relying on instinct, he tried dragging the percentage values behind the attributes. Sure enough, as his finger moved, the numbers changed. When one value increased, the other four decreased, with the total always remaining 100%.
Jiang Yi understood completely. Cursing under his breath, he drew on his extensive experience from countless game attribute allocations and quickly set his envisioned future development path. Without a doubt, Jiang Yi knew his future role would be that of a warrior!
First, the weapon he materialized was a blade, not a staff, dagger, axe, or others. The profession that fit a blade was the warrior. Second, whether it was an illusion or not, Jiang Yi felt that his ability was closely related to his love for gaming.
And the profession he was best at, or rather, uniquely favored, was the warrior! Even when it came to allocating points for the warrior class, Jiang Yi had always had unconventional, niche methods.
After finalizing his attribute allocation, Jiang Yi still felt somewhat dazed. This was real life, not a game. Would his past experience truly be suitable?
He had to remember, this choice was unique and irreversible! The relentless pounding of zombies echoed in his ears. The corpse stuck in the wooden door was being gradually torn and pulled backward. If it weren’t for its neck being caught on the plank, it would have already been yanked out, reopening the large hole.
Gripping the peculiar black blade tightly, Jiang Yi gritted his teeth and firmly pressed ‘Confirm.’ The screen changed: “Speed 40%, Defense 20%, Strength 15%, Spirit 15%, Constitution 10%.”
This was Jiang Yi’s final choice—an allocation method that would seem extremely peculiar to any gamer.
As a warrior, he had forsaken strong strength and constitution, focusing instead on speed and defense. The 40% allocation to speed, in particular, would make anyone feel that Jiang Yi’s choice was exceptionally radical.
“Level: 1 (2/10)
Speed: 3 points
Defense: 2 points
Strength: 1.75 points
Spirit: 1.75 points
Constitution: 1.5 points”
The sudden change made Jiang Yi feel as if his body were about to float. Although he hadn’t returned to his previous state,instead feeling the weakness of someone just recovering from a serious illness, he was at least no longer as feeble as right after materializing the weapon.
Having made his choice, Jiang Yi wouldn’t dwell on regret or second-guessing. While the wooden door hadn’t yet been breached, he stood up and examined the strange black blade that had cost him all his attributes and soul to materialize!
Earlier, he hadn’t had time to think much about it. Now, with his body temporarily recovering, Jiang Yi finally had a moment to scrutinize the blade closely. As his eyes fell upon it, a light screen appeared above the sword, displaying its information…
“Skull-Severing Blade: Left-handed blade! A soul weapon condensed by draining all stamina and vital energy. It possesses uniqueness, indestructibility, and cannot be lost. Note: Its form is that of a black Tang sword, with a hilt designed for left-handed use. The Skull-Severing Blade is a materialized, growable weapon. Only souls slain by it will count as experience. More functions await your exploration.”
Holding the blade in his left hand and gently stroking the blade with his right, a sense of intimate familiarity washed over Jiang Yi. “Skull-Severing Blade, is it?” he murmured. With a light swing, Jiang Yi, who had never used a sword before, felt as if the blade were just like an extension of his own arm, moving as effortlessly as waving his own limb.
“From now on, I’ll leave it to you!” Each of the eight words was spoken with unwavering determination. As if responding to Jiang Yi, the Skull-Severing Blade trembled slightly. To Jiang Yi’s astonishment, the meter-long leather cord behind the hilt rose on its own, winding around his left wrist in loops!
“What’s going on?” Jiang Yi stared blankly at the black leather strap now entwined with his arm. Could the Skull-Severing Blade truly be sentient?
“GROAN!” Unfortunately, there was no more time to waste. The dead zombie was finally torn out by the zombies outside. The tremendous force nearly ripped the corpse’s neck open, exposing the ghastly white bone!
Then, the zombies scrambled to squeeze through the small hole in the door, eager to devour the delicious meat before them. Gripping his blade, Jiang Yi watched the heads poking through again and blinked. Suddenly, he couldn’t help but laugh. Such a perfect leveling opportunity. It would be a shame to waste it, especially considering his former 8-point Spirit!
To ensure a one-hit kill, Jiang Yi gripped the blade with both hands, raised it high, and fiercely chopped down at the extended neck!
“THUD!” Unlike before, where he could only cut through skin and flesh, this time, with more than double his previous strength, Jiang Yi’s slash sent dark blood splattering. The black blade in his hand vibrated slightly but still managed to slice through the zombie’s cervical spine!
Although it wasn’t completely severed, the zombie, with its spine severely damaged, could only let out a final roar before its foul head drooped powerlessly.
Having fought zombies numerous times over these days, this was by far the easiest kill Jiang Yi had ever achieved. Staring at the Skull-Severing Blade, from which blood still dripped, Jiang Yi could hardly believe it. Did he really just do that?
It wasn’t until another white orb shot into his chest that Jiang Yi snapped out of his daze. This time, there was no surge of power—clearly, he hadn’t leveled up again!
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